


Considerate

by kleine_aster



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 07:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15945014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kleine_aster/pseuds/kleine_aster
Summary: I wanted to know what would happen if Hinata asked Komaeda to dance, so I uh wrote this. It's a comedy of errors and also Hinata says "I mean…" a lot.





	Considerate

**Author's Note:**

> Set post DR3. Spoilers and all that. Also HOLY CRAP I am so happy I finally wrote something romantic for them aaah

A party where nobody dies; imagine that.

What a hopeful concept.

He sits quietly in the furthest corner of the mess hall, sipping on the coconut drink that Hanamura has served him before walking away from him really fast. The Ultimate Chef has been letting his talent shine all night, serving drinks to all of them, the most colorful and inventive of drinks, along with the wonderful food he's also been serving.

Meat on the bone has been banned from the menu for the occasion.

Komaeda _hasn't_ been banned from attending the party and he isn't sure why. Perhaps because, if there's only sixteen people on an Island, it's strange and sad if one person doesn't come.

Ultimates are thoughtful like that.

It doesn't matter. His main goal for the night is to make everyone forget he is here by not talking to anyone and moving as little as possible, which, so far, has been going well.

It's almost like being in school again.

It's their third party after their _very_ first party, the one he'd ruined because he can't do anything right, and Kuzuryuu's welcome back party, which Monokuma had ruined because of course he had. The Ultimates had figured that, after outing themselves to the world as the worst that humanity had to offer, they deserved at least a little levity. And they had decided to hold it in the mess hall because nobody had died there, so it had the least bad memories attached to it.  The evening had been a little tense at first. Even someone as dense and out-of-touch as him had noticed. There'd been that moment where everyone had thrown themselves on the ground screaming as Sonia had accidentally popped a balloon by sitting on it, but by now, everyone seems to be relaxing, and happy. Komaeda likes seeing them happy. It's all he wants.

He drinks in the music and the laughter, occasionally scanning the sky outside for signs of a storm, the electronic wiring for sparks, and the exits for potential blockage. It gives him such a thrill to see the celebration unfold. To see Hinata, carefree and smiling as Mioda teaches him a variety of drinking games while Tsumiki does her best to keep up with them. Imposter and Mitarai, sticking their heads together to study Hanamura's menu. Hinata laughing at something witty Kuzuryuu has said. Tanaka sitting with Sonia and thinking he's being sneaky as he feeds his sleeve and scarf with little scraps of food. Hinata posing for Koizumi's camera with Nidai and Owari. Souda beaming from behind the turntables, because he's been allowed to deejay the event after everyone has given him a list of their favorite songs, to make sure he won't just play 50 ballads at Sonia. Hinata -

There's no reason to look at Hinata this much. He's the least likely to die out of all of them.

He tries to divert his attention more. The middle of the room has been turned into an improvised dance floor, and Komaeda has overheard multiple people grumbling that it's silly because nobody would be dancing, but they have been wrong.

The first couple entering the floor is Mioda and Owari. Then it's Owari with a blushing Mitarai, and Mioda with an equally blushing Tsumiki. Then it's Owari with Nidai, and Mioda with Imposter. Finally, a very earnest-looking Kuzuryuu leads Peko Pekoyama into a dance, andthen Sonia comes waltzing by, with a furiously determined Tanaka trying to copy her elegant steps. They all look so radiant that it makes Komaeda's heart sing, and now Hinata is heading straight towards him -

Oh, he'd promised himself he wouldn't stare at him anymore.

Wait.

He's heading straight towards him.

Kind and patient Hinata, always looking out for his lessers.

Komaeda shifts in his chair, straightening his back. Unsure what to with his hands, he takes another deep sip from his coconut, which is empty, so all it makes is a drawn-out, disgusting slurping noise as Hinata arrives at his table.

"Hey, Komaeda," he says.

"Hey, Hinata," Komada echoes, like a slightly damaged parrot.

"You having fun?" Hinata asks, even though he's done nothing but sit here; because he understands, on some level.

He beams up at him. "It's beautiful."

Hinata smiles. He has strong eyebrows, so he always looks a little grouchy even when he smiles, which Komaeda likes.  "It's good to see you happy," he says, which is puzzling.

"Why?"

Hinata doesn't answer that. He clears his throat, then shifts from one foot to the other. "I came to ask you something."

Komaeda sits at attention. It's good to be helpful if he can.  Hinata puts his hand out in front of him. 

"Komaeda, will you dance with me?"

His mind goes blank for a moment. Then he feels startled. Then confused. Then, he worries that _Hinata_ might be confused. He'd like to take his temperature, but he's standing too far away. Finally, he slowly turns around to make extra sure there isn't someone else sitting behind him that Hinata might be talking to, but there isn't. And also he'd said his _name,_ so Komaeda has to turn back and face him again.

He looks like something from a soap opera to him, in his perfect crisp white shirt and tie,heterochromatic eyes illuminated by the colorful lights, smiling, with his hand extended in invitation. He knows he's gaping at him and he doesn't know how to stop.

There's fourteen other people here, and he picks the _worst_ one?

Has he been looking that sad, sitting here alone? That wouldn't be good. He'd been going for invisible, not pitiful. Though he's sure that to Hinata, he must always look pitiful.

"You're asking me…?"

"Yeah…?"

Hinata's cheeks look red under the lights. "Only if you want to, of course. But, you know, I'm actually not bad. I picked up a few things from Hiyoko."

That's his very humble way to say that the Ultimate Hope is still very much alive within him, and that he has probably mastered dancing simply by being near Saionji. Komaeda still doesn't understand why he's so humble regarding his talents. He should be striding the Island like a lion, but he never does for some reason. But that's what makes him Hinata, in a way.

There's a part of him that wants to jump across the table and straight into his arms. The rest of him instantly becomes obsessed with the thousand ways this might go wrong.

He leans back and looks him up and down, grinning despite his nerves because that's what his worthless face does.

"Hm," he taps his finger against his chin in reflection, "Are you sure you have thought this through?"

"Yeah."

Hinata doesn't even hesitate. His face looks serious now. He's still holding out his hand, like an open question. "For much longer than you might think."

Komaeda is bad at reading faces, but he knows that look. It's how Hinata looks when he has made up his mind and no-one can tell him otherwise.

"I can hardly say no to someone _this_ determined," he quips, and then the coconut gets bumped off the table and rolls away as he tries, and fails, to get up with a semblance of confidence.

He somehow has enough presence of mind to offer him his flesh hand, instead of the other one.

Hinata's grip feels firm and nice. "I'm glad," he says, and his voice is so warm it makes Komaeda want to bolt outside through the glass panel window and drown himself in the ocean.

He can't because Hinata is holding his hand.

"Oooh look at _that_ ," Saionji whispers, probably to Koizumi, as they pass them by on their way to the dance floor, and then she giggles.

It's so sweet of the Ultimate Traditional Dancer to cheer her former classmates on like that.

Hinata pulls him close, mingling with the other - other _couples_ on the dance floor, and Komaeda wonders what they might be thinking, seeing beautiful Hinata, who is loved, dance with a trash bag like him. He wonders if the blinking lamps on the ceiling will come crashing down and bury them. He wonders if the coconut he let loose is still out there and might cause someone to slip and fall. He wonders if Souda, who's halfway into his fourth beer, will stumble into the complicated sound system and tear it down and electrocute them all. He wonders if -

Hinata lets go of him and says, "Thank you."

Komaeda freezes up. 

It's over. 

The song has ended, and the dance is over. And he has missed it. He's missed the whole thing.

Hinata's hand had been in his and he can't remember how it felt. His arm had been around his waist, and he'd been so caught up in counting the dangers that he hadn't absorbed a second of it. He can't remember a single step. He can't even remember the song. He'd thought that, if something like this ever happened, he'd carry the song in his heart forever, but he can't. It could've been two pans smashed together and he wouldn't know.

He feels robbed, but, as usual, the person doing the robbing is himself.

The next song comes on. Hinata shuffles his feet. "So -"

Much too late, it occurs to him how impolite he's being. He hurries to offer his dancing partner a smile and light bow. "Thank _you_ , Hinata. That was very nice."

He thinks. He doesn't know, but it probably was.

_It probably was._

Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was horrible. Has he even been looking at Hinata? Has he been looking straight through him? Has he been smiling? Frowning? Making a strange face without noticing it? He'll never know, and it'll tear at the edges of his mind forever.

Has someone been filming this? Because in that case, he needs to acquire the tape somehow and then watch it through his fingers, like a horror movie. The freakish monster will be him because it always is.

Hinata leans in to talk to him over the music. His cheeks are an even deeper red than before. His voice is deeper than usual, too. It makes Komaeda's heart flutter nervously.

"Do you…?" 

He sounds hoarse, and then he has to stop talking and clear his throat, which makes Komaeda feel impatient, "D-Do you want to go outside and walk for a while? It's really warm in here."

He processes that for a moment and then realizes what he means is _together_.

He thinks about going out into the moonlit night alone with Hinata after this, and his whole brain starts screaming.

"Y-You're too kind, but -"

He opens his palms to make it clear that he means no offense, _please_ no offense, "But look at how much fun everyone's having! I couldn't deprive you of that, Hinata. I'm just a blight on these festivities, anyway. I think I'll go back to my room and -"

_Masturbate_

"… lie down."

Yes. He needs to be alone. Alone would be good.

"Oh."  Hinata blinks as if he hadn't expected that. Or as if he doesn't like it, which makes Komaeda feel like apologizing, but he's not sure for what.

Eventually, the spiky-haired boy shrugs. "I could walk you to your cottage, if you like."

He's so considerate. Much too considerate for his own good sometimes.

How humiliating that he doesn't think Komaeda can go home by himself.

He laughs it off, waving his hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry, I won't get in trouble on my way back. I promise. You stay and enjoy the party."

"Well - then -"

"Goodnight!"

He hears a quiet "Goodnight…" back as he turns and walks away.

He looks back one more time before he leaves. Hinata is still standing in the middle of the dance floor, shoulders drooping, gazing after him. It makes him sad in a vague way. He doesn't want him to look like that. He wants to see him dance with Owari and laugh and be happy, or having a drink with Kuzuryuu and having a great time, not this.

He's not sure how he's managed to ruin the same party twice, once by showing up and once by leaving, but apparently that's exactly what happened.

Hinata spots him looking back and waves, and for some reason that makes him feel even sadder, and so he hurries to duck out of the building.

His legs pick up the pace once he's outside. He's running, from nothing in particular.

Once he's at his cottage, he doesn't bother turning on the lights. He heads straight to his bed, flops down on it, buries his face in his pillow, screams.

His face is hot from what has happened, and he isn't even sure _what has happened_.

_Why does it have to be so difficult…?_

He rolls over to stare at the ceiling. His heart hurts. It makes no sense. He might be frail, but dancing is not that taxing and the walk back was short. It's something else. But -

It's morning.

Komaeda blinks at the ceiling. Sunlight is flooding his room. It seems like moments to him since he fell face-first into bed, but somehow, hours have gone by and it's morning again. He hasn't noticed the passage of time, and he hasn't slept.

He nervously gets out of bed, nervously peels off his clothes, nervously takes a shower and nervously dresses himself again. Every movement is shaky. But it would never occur to him to shirk his duties to the symbols of hope over something as stupid as that, and so he stumbles out his front door, where he almost bumps into Kuzuryuu.

The Ultimate Yakuza does a double-take when he sees him. "Woah."

"G'morning," Komaeda offers, but Kuzuryuu merely frowns at him.

"Sheesh, Komaeda, what _happened_ to you? You look like shit. Did you get really drunk last night or what? I thought Hinata said you went home early."

"I'm fine," Komaeda assures him, noticing at the same time that he's slurring his words and swaying from side to side like a leaf in the wind.

"Oh, yeah? Hey. Mikan." Kuzuryuu snaps his fingers, and the Ultimate Nurse appears from seemingly out of nowhere. It's one of her many talents.

Kuzuryuu points at Komaeda. "How does he look?"

Tsumiki takes one look at him, then starts wringing her hands.

"I - I'm sorry, Komaeda, but you should really go back to bed." She bows deeply. "I - I can brew you some tea to help you sleep, if you - "

He shakes his head, which makes him dizzier than it should. "I can't. I already have my assignment for today. I can't lie around while all of you are working hard to restore hope to this Island!"

"You're not restoring anything in _your_ shape," Kuzuryuu grumbles. "And by the way, your shirt's inside out."

"A-and there's toothpaste in your hair," Tsumiki adds, bowing again. "S-Sorry for noticing!"

He looks down at himself in shame. Suddenly, it's like he's a freshman again, unable to go two minutes without making a fool of himself in front of the Ultimates. Now he has _two_ Ultimates zeroing in on him and it's almost too much to handle. At the same time, he thinks about how easy it would be to knock both of them out with his mechanical hand. Not too hard, only to buy himself enough time to get to his work assignment. He couldthrow himself before them to apologize later. That would be _much_ easier -

"If he wants to work, let him work."

They all turn around as someone comes toward them.

It's _him_.

This is too much. Komaeda's eyes dart around, looking for a fast retreat, but there's nothing. Nothing short of turning into dust, which he can't, or else he would've done that a long time ago.

Unlike him, he looks calm and prim and well-rested. If something about their interaction last night still bothers him, Komaeda can't see it.  Hinata shoots him a brief look that makes him hang his head in embarrassment before he addresses the group. "I mean, it's not like he's going to operate heavy machinery, Kazuichi does that." 

He turns to Komaeda. "What were you supposed to do today?"

He mumbles something in response. When he looks up, they all make blank faces at him. It seems like he hasn't been understood. His voice must be _really_ slurry.

"Um. Clear the rubble from the collapsed hospital wing with Pekoyama and Nidai," he repeats, emphasizing every word.

Their Island's not as pristine as it appeared in the Neo World Program. As it turns out, it is in fact very broken and there's much work to do. Komaeda likes it. It's progress, a forward movement. He can feel them inch their way towards a greater hope with every step, even if it leaves him sweaty and sticky and covered in grime.

"Hm. That seems rough," Hinata says, and Komaeda feels a pang of shame knowing that he doesn't think he can do it.

"How about this? I was going to do inventory on the books in the library with Akane today. I think she's pretty bored by it. She'll probably switch with you if we ask her."

_We. If_ we _ask her._

Komaeda swallows.

Hinata turns to his two friends. "I mean, it's the library," he shrugs, "What could possibly happen?"

Komaeda forgets his humiliation for a moment to look at him in shock. Hinata should know better than to say that. There are a number of things that could happen in the library. Someone could bump into the shelves, sending them all toppling like dominoes and crush someone else. A sudden bolt of lightning could shoot from the skies and ignite all that old, withered paper and turn it into an inferno in seconds. Komaeda could trip and fall off the ladder and break his neck; or he could trip and fall off the ladder, land on Hinata and break _his_ neck, which would be much worse -

It takes him a moment to realize that Hinata is watching him.

"Oh. You're not going up the ladder," he informs him, as if he could read his mind. The idea of Hinata reading his mind excites him, but that's probably not it. He probably simply knows him by now.

He… knows him.

His chest feels warm.

Kuzuryuu sighs, throwing up his hands. "Okay whatever, he's all yours. Mikan, let's go, or we'll be late for _our_ assignments." He looks them up and down. " _You two_ do what you want."

"Komaeda, please stay hydrated," Tsumiki pipes as she follows him. "Hinata, _please_ keep him hydrated."

As if he was Hinata's plant, or his pet.

Which -

Imagine what _that_ would be like…

"So?" 

His voice keeps him from pondering that further. "Wanna go find Akane?"

Oh. Right. He asks his permission before doing things with him.

He's so considerate.

"Yes, thank you, very considerate," he hears himself squawk. His drowsy voice sounds hideous, he doesn't know how Hinata can stand it. He'll be sure to keep his mouth shut while he works with him in the library. You're supposed to be quiet in a library, anyway.

Hinata smiles. His red eye - the one that Komaeda would crawl into if he could - seems to be twinkling.

"And hey," he lowers is voice. "If you doze off on a pile of books or something, I'm sure I won't even notice."

Oh, so now Hinata thinks he's incompetent _and_ lazy.

He quirks his mouth at him. "Well, at least your opinion of me _can't_ get any lower. That takes the pressure off, I guess."

Now Hinata _does_ look a little tired, after all. He sighs, but then Komaeda feels the light, warm touch of his hand on his arm as he leads him away.

"Let's get you some coffee," he suggests.

 

***

 

"Want to take break?" Hinata calls down from the balcony. He's dangling a bag in his hand. "I brought snacks."

Komaeda's stomach, which hasn't seen food since yesterday, starts grumbling at that. How kind of Hinata, to be thinking of him. Of course, _he_ could've brought something to share with him too, if he wasn't so thoughtless and ungrateful. He doesn't deserve Hinata's treats. 

He shakes his head. "I'd rather get this done," he says, entering another book title into the prepared spreadsheet.

"I can't eat all this by myself."

"I'm sure you can, Hinata, have faith in yourself," Komaeda encourages him without looking up from the laptop. It had been a good idea to come here. There's something so pleasing about those orderly rows of book names, so unlike the disorderly mess everywhere else.

He hears him huff, and then he retreats with his snacks.

Komaeda stops working, and squints up.

Hinata is sitting down with his back against one of the bookshelves to eat. 

In his mind, Komaeda sees his spine snap like a twig as the whole thing falls down on him.

He can't look at that.

His robotic hand makes a small whirring sound as he waves at him to come down.

"Fine, let's eat."

 

***

 

Hinata gives him an onigiri, a chocolate milk, a cupcake and a peach, which to him is a feast. He's having the same as he sits down across from him.

It's odd, he's suggested taking a lunch break, yet he doesn't seem that hungry. He's taking little bites of his food, but for the most part, he's taking little looks at Komaeda, which makes him nervous. He's not sure what's expected. Should he introduce a topic to talk about? How might he do that, without bringing up his abject failure from yesterday?

"Thank you," he finally says. "For taking me to work today. I don't know what I -"

His robot hand clamps shut around the cupcake, crushing it. The icing shoots straight into the air before landing on a nearby book with a wet plop. Luckily, it's a book on geography that hasn't been updated since 1982, so it can probably go.

Still, what a blunder.

Hinata has stopped eating, most likely in disgust.

"A-Anyway -"  He tries to play it down, but now he has to raise his voice to talk over the noise his hand is making as it vibrates and ventilates itself to get rid of the cake crumbs, making him look even _more_ like a freak, "It's more kindness than I deserve -"

"Oh, I'm not doing it for you," Hinata says.

…

…

What?

"What?"

Hinata takes his time to reply. Komaeda watches him suck peach juice off his fingers. Watches it like a movie and files it away in his mind.

"Um," he makes, once he's finished. "I'm doing it because I like it. Spending time together. I - I mean, with you, spending time with you."

Komaeda narrows his eyes at him.

He should've never started this conversation. His failing, sleep-deprived brain is not capable of having it, because Hinata is speaking the same language as him and yet he can't make sense of his words.

"Do you know? What I mean?" Hinata eventually asks, when he doesn't answer.

Smiling politely, Komaeda shakes his head.

"Oh. Okay…"  Hinata puts his fist against his chin. He looks ponderous, like he used to whenever it took him far too long to process the facts of a case during Class Trial. What a sweet, nostalgic memory of their time together.  Finally, he looks at him again. "Komaeda, why do you think I asked you to dance?"

He frowns. He doesn't like guessing games. Riddles and mysteries are fun because you get to unravel them. But this is like poking at something in the dark with a stick.

He says the first thing that comes to mind. "You felt bad for me."

Hinata laughs at that. Komaeda laughs too, to be safe, even though he doesn't know why it's funny. But he's always liked making him laugh and it's been a long time, so at least there's that.

"No. That's not why." Hinata is still smiling. "And I don't."

It figures; why would he even waste his pity on him. How arrogant to even assume that.

So then -

Hm.

The next one seems like a long shot, but since they're already playing -

"You want to have sex with me."

He'll be embarrassed if he's wrong, but he's been embarrassed so many times by now that it hardly matters. Despite his general worthlessness, he's apparently not a bad person to have sex with, because he's been asked to a few times, sometimes even twice; if nothing terrible befell the person after the first time, which sometimes, it did. It's too bad because he quite likes doing it, too, but the implied risk is often too much. He doesn't really want that for Hinata. Even though he's always really wanted Hinata.

"NO!"

The other boy's face goes from pink to bright red in seconds.  "I- I mean. Yes? I mean - no - that's not - ah - "

His reaction is forceful and it's also confusing. Komaeda watches him go back and forth with himself, curious where he'll settle.

Finally, he mumbles, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't." It's hard to understand him because his hands are covering his entire face.

Ah.

So he finds his body appealing enough to be willing to overlook his abhorrent personality.

That's -

Much more than he'd hoped for, at this point, to be honest.

Komaeda leans over. "You could've said so earlier," he tells Hinata, who is rocking back and forth with his face in his hands. "We could've been doing it this whole time."

Hinata makes a noise at that. It's coming from his throat.

Komaeda feels a brief onset of genuine despair as he thinks of all the sex they could've been having if he'd known. Making love to the Ultimate Hope had to be amazing. And it would've been so much easier than all his other pathetic attempts at engaging him. He struggles to contain himself.

"We could do it right now," he suggests. 

They've been making good progress on the books, so there should be time. It's not safe here, but then, nowhere is.

"Huh?! No…"

No?

Komaeda sighs.

It's hard, this is hard. And it's hard not to get hard.

Hinata takes his hands off his face, which doesn't help, because Komaeda can't read his expressions. All he sees is pretty, flushed skin, from his face down to his throat, disappearing into his shirt collar. "I mean, I want to, but I want… all the other stuff, too. Look, I'm bad at this…"

Komaeda categorically shakes his head. "That's not possible. You're the Ultimate Hope. You're good at everything."

"Trust me. I'm not." 

Hinata bares his teeth at him. It looks pained. The thought of Hinata being in pain because of him worries him.

"Komaeda." He makes a fist. Sweat appears on his brow. "I want to be your boyfriend."

"…"

"…"

"…"

His instincts, his terrible instincts kick in, and he starts laughing.

Laughing in his face, too long and too loudly, his scratchy voice unpleasantly ringing out through the quiet library. Hinata seems to be shrinking in his chair right before his eyes, but Komaeda laughs so much he cries and can't see him anymore.

"Oh." He finally finishes, wiping a tear from his eye, still chuckling. "I wouldn't want you to be my _boyfriend_ , Hinata."

Imagine that. Imagine doing that to someone he adores. What a terrible thought.

"Oh."

Hinata's hands are trembling. He quickly puts them in his lap so Komaeda can't see them anymore."I - I see. Thanks for… for being honest."

It's going wrong again. He looks even _more_ in pain now. It's not what Komaeda wants and it… hurts.  Maybe the library _should_ be on fire, at least then he'd know what to do.

He tries to be helpful. "You should aim higher, Hinata," he says earnestly.

He really should; feeling lonely in a place like this is very natural, but it's not as if he doesn't have options if he wants a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. There's fourteen others, each more talented and worthwhile than he is. And in his mind, Hinata could have anyone he wanted.

He doesn't answer. He seems to be staring at his hands in his lap.

"I'd still have sex with you, of course," Komaeda blurts into the awkward silence. It's pathetic, but he very much doesn't want him to forget.

At that, Hinata raises his head and looks at him instead. He seems lost in thought. The silence stretches on, shattering, deafening.

He nearly flinches when Hinata suddenly clears his throat and straightens himself. He gets up from his chair, and walks over to him. Komaeda doesn't know what's going on, but he does know that he feels his heart beat in his throat.

"Hey, will you give me your hand?"

"S-Sure. Which one?"

"It doesn't - I don't - really… okay, that one."

Oh, so he hates his robot hand? Good to know. He should rip if off and stomp on it later. Or perhaps Hinata might want to stomp on it. Komaeda'd let him. Even if it's still attached.

He gives him his flesh hand and Hinata squeezes it and it's good, it's good when he does that. His red eye is glinting again.

"You know, all things considered," he says, "I think I'm aiming pretty damn high."

Komaeda opens his mouth to protest, and then he -

He can't.

Because Hinata is… not _wrong_.

The two of them together… as Nanami, sweet and smart Nanami whom he killed would say, it'd be like playing boyfriends on highest difficulty. It's a disaster waiting to happen and Hinata knows, he _knows_ , and he asked anyway. It's a daring and bold thing to do.

As expected from the Ultimate Hope.

And who is he to deny him that.

He wants to say something sexy, or something beautifully romantic, but what his useless mouth produces is, "When did _you_ get so smooth?"

Hinata bites his lip and laughs. It's nice. "Was that smooth?"

Komaeda shoots him a stern look and prepares to scold him for this false humility, but before he can, he feels his own eyes glaze over and knows he'll do something else, instead.

He stumbles up from his chair. They are so close that their bodies are almost touching. Hinata watches him from wide eyes, he looks startled, it's tantalizing. His mouth hangs open. Komaeda's heart hammers like it's about to burst, and then it stops, for a second, when he uses the hand he's still holding to pull him close. Hinata lets him. He feels warm and firm and good, and his breath smells so nice, and he doesn't resist as Komaeda leans down and kisses his lips.

This time, he won't miss it. And he won't forget.

Hinata shivers against him. His body seems to be glowing, like a friendly bonfire, tense as a whip at first and then very very mellow. He tastes like sweet peaches. His tanned skin is soft and covered in goosebumps as Komaeda runs his hand up and down his bare arm. He feels his tongue brush against the outline of his lips and opens up to receive him, sucks it into his mouth, sucks on it harder than he's ever sucked on something before. He feels tears in the corners of his eyes. Hinata groans and shudders, fingers scraping against Komaeda's skin as they curl into rock hard fists around his hips.

He drinks him like water and commits him to memory, stores him away in what he hopes will be the last part of his brain that dies.

Hinata is still trembling when they eventually have to split so they can breathe; it seems prudent to keep holding him when he shakes like that. Even though Komaeda is shaking even harder. He's shaking so hard his teeth are chattering.

Hinata sighs and buries his face against his shoulder. It feels incredible.

"That's a relief," he mumbles, delicious wet mouth moving against his skin. "I got really worried when I saw how scared you were while we were dancing."

Komaeda's face falls. He wishes his soul could leave his body so he could slap himself.

"I - I was…?"

Hinata regrettably stops rubbing his flushed face against him to look up. "Oh. Yeah. You looked terrified. I kept thinking you knew something that I don't. But then when I asked you, you never replied."

"Hinata -" 

He grabs the front of his shirt with both hands because he _needs_ him to _not_ leave before he's done apologizing.  "I - I'm so sorry, I kept trying to remember but I couldn't, I forgot, I'm sorry. It was so sudden and I didn't know what to do, I never had a boyfriend and I'm _really_ lonely -"

"It's okay! That's okay," Hinata's grip around his waist grows even firmer, and then _he_ starts talking really fast, "We - we can do it again! Though probably not very soon. The - the sound system blew out after you left, and then the power went out and everyone started screaming again, and Imposter had a panic attack and then Hanamura had a panic attack and honestly, it was probably good you _weren't_ there -"

Komaeda nods earnestly. Hinata licks his tasty lips. There's sweat dripping down his temples. His voice somehow gets higher and creakier with every word and it's giving Komaeda shivers.  "B - but… I have some music on my phone in my room, if you… I mean, my music taste is kinda boring but w-we can dim the lights and stuff -"

"Sounds great."

He clutches his shirt even harder, besieged by the sudden fear that one of them or both might die before they reach Hinata's cottage and he gets to show him the things he's been longing to do. _All of them._ And he knows he'll feel this fear every second of every day they'll spend together and he also knows it'll be worth it.

"Let's go _right now_."

"Ah…"

Hinata puts a gentle hand on his cheek, cupping it. For some reason, he doesn't seem to object to being grabbed by his shirt. Parts of him even seem to respond to it. But his face is earnest.

"We can't. We have to go to dinner assembly -"

"So dutiful. So considerate," Komaeda purrs, before he can help it.

" - and report on what we did. Uh, maybe not _everything_ we did."

Hinata starts, then sighs, then his body goes all soft again, and he leans against him until their foreheads are touching.  "But to be honest… I don't mind if they know."

It's so sweet. It's _too_ sweet, that he'd endure the shame of being seen with him, all because he -

He -

Komaeda is still not sure why, why Hinata would, but he's determined to find out. It's the kind of vexing thing he could really get into.

"It'd be troublesome," he whispers back, giving him another tug, "If we went to assembly in our current state, no? So allow me to -"

He lets go of his shirt to place his hand somewhere else.

"Help ease the tension."

Hinata stirs, sways a little, and then. He touches him back.

"You're one to talk," he grumbles. His other hand reaches for the back of Komaeda's neck, and grows firm there.

He exhales. He waits, for the familiar crackle of a fire breaking out, an electric fuse igniting. He waits for the stench of leaking gas. He waits for rubble to rain from the floor, announcing the roof's collapse. He waits for Souda to somehow crash the truck he's been driving through the wall, and flatten them. He waits for his dormant cancer to take him on the spot. He waits to be whisked back to being impaled on a cold floor, hallucinating all of this as he dies.

But no; none of that happens.

So it's bad luck…?

Hinata wanting to be his boyfriend is _bad luck_?

What else could it be…?

It's not lucky for _Hinata_ , that much is for sure.

Well, Komaeda thinks, as he slinks out of Hinata's embrace to kneel in front of him and run his hand over the front of his pants, if this is to be how they both go to hell, he can at least make it worthwhile.


End file.
